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WB: Children sick after wrong vaccination

Kolkata, Sept 16 IBNS | 1 year ago

At least 57 children, all under the age of five, had to be hospitalized after they were administered Hepatitis B vaccine instead of anti-polio drops during a Pulse Polio drive in West Bengal's Arambagh area under Hooghly district on Sunday.

Confirming the news, officials said the children are out of danger and most of them have been released since such administration is not lethal. The children were given the wrong vaccine at the Khatun primary school in Goghat in Hooghly.

West Bengal Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered a probe into the negligence which could have resulted in a major tragedy.

The children were being treated at the state-run Arambagh Sub-Divisional Hospital.

According to reports, the gross negligence was pointed out by the father of one of the children.

The incident caused tension in the area and health officials were locked up in a school by the irate parents of the children.